Ryuga Kokuyo
Ryuga Kokuyo is a Shinigami of the Gotei 13. Appearance Ryuga is a very tall and muscular man standing at 6'3" tall with red eyes and black hair that is complicatedly spiked up. He wears different outfits for normal life and battle. Outside of battle, Ryuga wears a black muscle shirt and and some grey jeans and shoes. Whenever he goes into a place where he'll expect a battle, he'll wear a more unique outfit. He wears a black mail armor that covers his chest and extends a bit on his left arm with some red stripes on them. He wears black pants that has a red band on the left leg with the mark of a crescent moon and a red belt around his waist, and a pair of black boots with mark markings on them. He also wears a ragged black cloak around himself with a small red rope attached to it. He also wears a red head armor with a black crescent moon mark and has two wristbands with a red crescent moon marking. From either outside or inside battles, he always carries his sword with him. Personality Ryuga is a very serious man. He doesn't take crap from anyone and isn't above smacking anyone that pisses him off by doing something stupid like trying to be a hero and sacrifice themselves or do something in secret without regarding the concern of him or any of his comrades. He views almost anyone that has an immature attitude to be nothing more than kids, even if they are the same age as him or older. There are a select few that he doesn't view that way though, and can even hold some respect for. However, even so, he can still feel annoyed by anything stupid that they pull. However, despite his serious nature, he is very easily irked and tends to act in a humorous way if anyone were to ever tease him. He's also quite a compassionate guy that has a desire to protect others, despite his abrasive and ruthless nature. He is very loyal to his comrades and wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone that seeks to harm them, as he stated, "If someone wants to take away the ones I want to protect, I'll kill them with no qualms." He's also a very perceptive man and can usually able to understand a person's hidden nature provided that he spends enough time with them. He can sometimes tell when someone's hiding something, but he never presses the issue or try to find out what secret they're hiding as its not his concern or his place to know. This perception extends to battle as he can discern a person's fighting ability and understand their weakness by observing their movements and reactions in the sidelines. This makes him an excellent trainer to those that need it. Ryuga also has his own philosophy about swords that he believes in: a sword is used to cut only when needed and not used to cut anything if it is not necessary. This causes him to get angry at seeing someone using a sword that he believes is the wrong way. Even some of his Shinigami comrades that he fights alongside with tend to annoy him whenever he would see them make a blunder because of their incompetence with the sword, which would make him punch them when they get the chance to. Because of his nature, Ryuga also enjoys any chances he gets to have a good fight, especially if the opponents are strong, hence why the 11th Division was the perfect place for him to be in. His love for the good fight also makes him hate whenever the fight gets complicated that its not even a fight anymore, but rather something that makes him think more than he should. He also has a tendency of mocking enemies whenever they are being too pathetic in the fight against him, and would even challenge the opportunity to face multiple opponents at once. He wouldn't back down from a fight even if the odds would be against him. He dreams of becoming much stronger than he is, so that he could get a chance to fight even stronger opponents, and one day dreams of becoming the next Kenpachi, after hearing tales of the title from his father. When it comes to family, Ryuga only has one, his younger twin brother Ryuuhei. Becaus Ryuuhei is his only family, Ryuga is fiercely protective of him, especially since Ryuga had made a promise to his mother before she had died to always watch over him. So if anyone even hurt a hair on Ryuuhei's head, they can be sure that Ryuga would beat them to death, or cut them to pieces. The same goes for his older sister Karai, as she was the one that helped raise them when they were alone. One thing though that Ryuga doesn't want others knowing is that Karai is the only one that can actually scare him, possible because when they were younger and he and Ryuuhei pissed her off, she got scary and punished them that still affects them to this day. History Prologue Ryuga was born in the Soul Society as the older twin brother of Ryuuhei, as they were born from a Shinigami and a resident of the Rukongai. His father was a Shinigami of the 11th Division that served under the Captain, also known as the Kenpachi. Ryuga's father had met their mother many years before they were born, as she was born within the higher district numbers, therefore grew up in a more lawless and dangerous part of the Rukongai, where many criminals roam around freely. When Ryuga's mother was in danger of being killed by the criminals during a time when Ryuga's father had gone to patrol around the region, he saw and protected her, but got wounded in the prcesss. Feeling grateful to him, Ryuga's mother took him to her home to get his wounds treated, a place where she lived all alone at, due to having lost her entire family to the criminals many years ago. The time they spent together while he recuperated caused the two to develop a bond together, which made Ryuga's father ask her to come with him to the other district, where she would be able to live more peaceful at. Having no other path to take in her current district and the feelings she developed for the man, she ended up accepting, moving into his home until he found her a new home to live in. Ryuga's mother made her living by making dresses for girls around the district, a living that truly made her happier than she had ever been in her life, as also grew closer to the man that gave her this chance to truly live. Eventually after a few years and they finally had enough money to separate, she told Ryuga's father that she didntt want to live on her own home, but to be there with him, confessing her love for him, to which he returned. This eventually led to them getting married and her giving birth to the twins, Ryuga and Ryuuhei. Beginnings Growing up, Ryuga had always been the more attached to his father, even though he loved his moterr a lot too, but he wasn't at the same that Ryuuhei had been close to her. Ryuga looked up to his father a lot and always tried to be as strong as his father, thinking of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a Shinigami as well. So much that even as a young child, he had a habit of trying to act tough and do things like climbing trees that his father teasingly challenged him to climb to prove his strength, though that made Ryuga nearly fall that made his father panic, and both of them git scolded by Ryuga's mother. Along with the tales of his father's stories of the battles he had been through, Ryuga had also heard stories about the Kenpachi and how they were the strongest Shinigami in all of Soul Society, and how Ryuga thought about one day becoming the next Kenpachi himself, and desired to become stronger than he was, which began his attempts to practice training in using a sword. Of course, the only sword Ryuga could use were tree branches that he'd swing around in a manner he would a real sword. Whenever Ryuuhei would get bullied on by others, Ryuga would always step into protect him, sending the bullies packing, thinking that the strong should protect the weak, and he always hated seeing others pick on his little brother. Though when his father found out about Ryuuhei being bullied, he knew that Ryuga being Ryuuhei's protector wouldn't help solve Ryuuhei's bullying problem, as they'd pick on him again the moment Ryuga wasn't by Ryuuhei's side. So Ryuga's father tried to get Ryuuhei to learn some self defense, which would make the bullies stop picking on him. Of course, Ryuuhei didn't make it easy for him since Ryuuhei didn't like hurting others and was more of a momma's boy. Ryuga on the other hand, always tried to get his dad to train him, especially in using a sword. So while Ryuuhei was reluctantly training, Ryuga was progressing even faster, especially when Ryuga started using wooden swords and learning some of his father's moves. When his father asked him if Ryuga wanted to become strong, Ryuga replied that he did, but then Ryuga's father asked him for what purpose, surprising Ryuga. Ryuga's father then began to expand on the question: "What good will becoming stronger do? Is it your goal to become stronger simply for the sake of being able to defeat others? Do you wish to become strong only for your own satisfaction?" The questions hit Ryuga hard, as he realized that that was exactly what he wanted to at first, to become Kenpachi for the sake of being the strongest, but understood that becoming stronger like that got him nothing at all in the end. Ryuga's father stopped the training that day to give Ryuga time to think about his answer, and Ryuga did so, his mind wondering what the strength could be used for, and then saw Ryuuhei and his mother being together. It was then that he understood what it was that he wanted, and the enxt day, gave his answer. He wanted to become strong for the sake of protecting others, for his brother, his mother, and even his father. The answer Ryuga gave made his father proud, as he accepted the answer and helped train Ryuga some more. Eventually, even Ryuuhei trained more, since their mother enforced their father's words, which Ryuuhei would more likely listen to. However, a year later, the most tragic news struck home. Their father died in battle against a powerful Hollow. If the news wasn't bad enough, what they brought back was even worse. They gave them the only thing they had of the father: a severed arm that held the Zanpakuto. While they were all devastated by the news, it hurt Ryuga and his mother more, but perhaps their mother greater, as soon afterwards, their mother grew very ill all of a sudden. Even Ryuga changed. From the enthusiastic and happy child, he was now a quiet child that was more prone to anger, which resulted him getting into more fights with other kids that he ended up beating up even more than usual, but he didn't care if he got in trouble, or even got beat up from some of the bigger kids. Ryuuhei tried to hep calm Ryuga, but Ryuga had grown distant from him as well, wanting to be alone more than anything, but he would give Ryuuhei a hand in getting medicinal herbs and medicine to give to their ailing mother. One day, when she was getting better and Ryuuhei was out, she called for Ryuga, wanting to talk to him about something of great importance. When Ryuga entered the room, he heard shocking news from his mother: she knew that she was going to die very soon. Ryuga questioned how that was possible and tried to tell her not to think like that especially now that she was getting better. She shook her head and told him that she knew even before they were born that she would eventually die, confessing that she had an illness that couldn't be cured and would eventually take her life. Ryuga's father had known, and tried to help, but it was useless. She held a strong face for the kids for their sake, but after the love of her life had passed on, she didn't have the strength to keep strong. Ryuga felt his eyes welling up with tears as he tried hard not to cry, but realizing that he would lose his mother too, and how Ryuuhei would feel, hurt so much. His mother placed her hand on his cheek and asked him to be strong, not for her, but for Ryuuhei, knowing that he would be hurt greatly, and asked him to watch over him and protect him. Ryuga agreed, as he finally let the tears fall. And just like she had said, after a while, her health took a turn for the worse and Ryuuhei tried his best to help her, but nothing he did worked, and eventually, she died. And just as she had predicted, Ryuuhei was horrified by the loss of his mother, that he even blamed himself for her death, even though Ryuga tried to explain that it wasn't, but with the distance Ryuga had put between himself adn Ryuuhei, his voice couldn't be heard as strongly, especially after Ryuuhei had withdrawn into himself. But even so, Ryuga knew that he had to keep his promise to protect him. Meeting Karai With their mother dead and now alone in their home, Ryuga tried to help bring in food for him and Ryuuhei, though it was difficult to do that and making sure that Ryuuhei was alright. Hollows sometimes attacked the place, but Ryuga had began to start using the very Zanpakuto that belonged to his father, and that allowed Ryuga to fight them off, becoming much stronger now that he was using a true blade. However, one time he ended up facing more Hollows than he could take, and got wounded from the fight. Right as the Hollows closed in with the desire to devour Ryuga, they were destroyed before Ryuga could even process what had happened. He then saw someone standing above the destroyed Hollows, a young woman with purple hair that looked at the boy she had saved, and smiled, commenting on how Ryuga looked much like his father, surprising the boy greatly, unable to understand how she knew his father. Before the woman introduced herself, she asked if his brother was around, and asked if she could see him as well. While at first suspicious, he felt she could be trusted because of how she saved him from the Hollows, so he brought her to his home and saw that Ryuuhei was there as well, before they sat down and Ryuga asked who she was. The woman introduced herself as Karai, the head of the Shihoin clan and a friend of their parents. Karai learned of their mother's passing recently and came to check up on them to see how they were doing, and was glad to see they were doing okay, but stated that living alone like that wasn't going to help them if it kept up like that, so she made an offer to them, asking if they wouldn't mind coming over to her clan and live with her. She said that she owed a debt to their mother and father, and caring for their kids was the very least she could have done for them. At first neither of the boys wanted to leave their home and go with someone that they had just met, to which even Karai had mentioned was the case, and allowed them to have some time to themselves to decide for themselves, and whatever they chose, she would accept. She then left to give them some space, but told them that she would come back after a week to hear their answer. After three days of thinking, Ryuga began considering their offer, as no matter how strong he was, he knew that he had his own limits and felt like he had struck a wall and couldn't get any stronger than he was at the moment, not to mention that if that was the case, he wouldn't be able to protect Ryuuhei. It also didn't help that they weren't able to fully support themselves, and Karai being a Shihoin meant that she would have more than enough money to be able to support them, and for Ryuga's own reasons, she might be able to help him become a Shinigami. Once he finally decided by the sixth day, he went to Ryuuhei and told him that he was going to accept the offer to go to Karai and explained that it was the best for them, even explaining that he knew that she was trustworthy since she had saved his life and didn't think she was a bad person, and reasoned with the limitations they were with. After convincing him, they awaited for Karai to arrive the next day. When she arrived, Ryuga agreed, but asked if being adopted by her meant that their last names would change, to which she laughed and said that she'd never allow that, saying that their names were the names their parents held, and losing that name would be an insult to their memory, so she said even if they came with her, they would be able to keep their names. Happy to hear that, Ryuga and Ryuuhei gathered their belongings and went with Karai to their new home. Powers and Abilities Stuff. If you have enough Hohō for Shunpo, write it, and also write how many kidō you can use. Zanpakutō Inner World Describe your inner world, optional (name) Describe your Zanpakutou. Release command: Ryūkurō (Ability 2 name) Statistics Trivia *Ryuga is based off of Kurogane from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. *Ryuga's theme: Breaking the the Sword of Justice. *Ryuga is 10 minutes older than Ryuuhei. Quotes Optional.